ANASTASIA GARCIAby Megan Bolton

ruly one of the coolest and most down to earth video models you’ll ever meet, the shockingly 20 year old An-astasia Garcia has more going on for her than just a bangin’ body and beau-tiful face. This young video vixen has glazed across your eyes on numerous

occasions with leading features in music videos such as B.O.B. “Haters Everywhere”, Shawty Lo “Foolish Remix” and Gorilla Zoe “Walk With A Waddle,” just to name a few. She definitely has a bigger outlook for the future and plans to combine her hard work ethic, intelli-gence and beauty to dominate this hardcore, sometimes one-sided, industry. So before you eye her up and down in the various magazines and videos in which she ap-pears, let’s go behind the scenes and see what this spicy half Dominican and half African-American “bonita” has going on.

Born a Cleveland, Ohio native, Garcia has been a free spirit since she was younger. Following her instincts and the unpredictable directions her heart leads has al-lowed her to live a starlet’s life in Vegas to a southern Georgia Peach which she’s now been on and off for three years. Being in the “Black Hollywood” environ-ment of Atlanta and seeing how respected the beautiful girls were in the industry convinced her to take model-ing into another direction…one more exotic and entic-ing.

She wanted to experience the glitz and glamour of a video vixen but quickly found out that it wasn’t every-thing it was cracked up to be. “When Melissa Ford was around women were still put on a pedestal but now it’s like they treat us like whores,” explains Garcia about her experiences with video modeling in the industry to-day. “I’m not going to lie, I have nasty attitude at times, but I’m sweet. Like with the Carmelo Anthony/ Diego Cash “Nuvo” video, I got a bad rep for that because I was so mean but you have to understand the guys there were so rude, saying things like ‘Who the f*** are you’ and all I continued to say was ‘Leave me alone. I don’t feel like being bothered right now.’ I’m sorry but I’m just not a groupie,” she says expressing her feelings about the double standards that plague video models

today.It definitely seems that the “whore” stereotype wasn’t developed out of thin air, and Garcia goes on to tell how models attempt to advance their career by sleeping with directors in exchange for leading roles. “They’ll go to the casting and ask whose directing then claim to know them. I’ve experienced this myself with the V.I.C. “Wobble” video. I got cast for the lead but moved back to Cleveland the next day because I was just so fed up

with it,” she says annoyingly. She goes on to state that regardless of the fact that she would be getting paid for the role, she refused to actually do the video because of what the other models were willing to do to get cast for it. “You’re a model, supposedly professional. Why are you acting like that?” says Garcia concluding her thought.

Garcia later details the cattiness and competition ex-

perienced on a daily basis with other models and how hard it is being a natural talent and rivaling against a world of butt shots and breast implants, but her per-sistence and dominating demeanor overcame the com-petition making 2008 her break out year. Fianlly able to steal the spotlight, Garcia was cast for a lead role in July of 2008 for the Yung Ralph ft. Wango “Like This” video within only a year of beginning her career. She eagerly expresses how that has been one of her favorite

“...they treat us like whores.”

sets to work on because not only did it turn out great and in such high quality but she’s the center of atten-tion, and nothings better than not having to share the spotlight.

With a promising career ahead for this domineering young lady, the spotlight isn’t looking to shine upon just the leading lady with no male co-star. Although Garcia is now single, that doesn’t mean she isn’t look-ing and she openly admits to seeking a future “boo” to settle down with. Smiles and chuckles erupt as she names her various celebrity crushes, whom range from Eddie House of the Boston Celtics to explicit rapper Plies to movie mogul Will Smith. There is one guy; al-though, whom she mentions that she would love to get to know on a more personal and serious level. Even though they’ve never spoken to each other, she pours out how he gave her the “eye” which made her instantly fall head over heels. She admits that she’s always found him attractive and could sense that he had a good spirit. Garcia giggles as she spills the beans on the name of

her celebrity love interest … Ludacris! The eye gaze was undeniable and she definitely thinks that in a cou-ple of years she could make him the “marrying type.”In keeping up with Garcia’s future love affairs, we can also look forward to seeing her ambitious talents in upcoming feature films, magazine spreads, and possi-bly a few more videos. She concludes by saying, “Me not making it in modeling used to be my biggest fear because I know that’s my calling, but now my priori-ties have changed and it doesn’t bother me if I make it or not.” She finishes her statement leaving food for thought, “I just know I’m a good model and if they miss out on me … they’re definitely going to miss out.”

Keep an eye out for Anastasia Garcia as you never know where you may see her next, and make sure to stay updated by checking out her website www.anasta-siagarcia.com, Twitter www.twitter.com/anastasiagar-cia, and Myspace http://www.myspace.com/modelan-astasiagarcia.

“Junk” (Real Chance of Love Season 2)The Exclusive Interview

With the popularity of reality TV love shows on the rise, most of the contestants use their roles as a stepping stone on the path to celebrity stardom. While compet-ing to stand out from the many different personalities amongst the slew of beautiful ladies fighting (and in some cases "literally" fighting) for their love interest's attention, it can sometimes become a task in itself to be-come so memorable that when the lights, cameras, and

action are gone, the masses will still speak of you and yearn to see more. I had the absolute pleasure of finally catching up to one of the lucky ladies that has definitely accomplished such a feat. The Shoot Magazine proudly introduces to you, a glimpse into the personal world of the unbelievably curvaceous and sexy troublemaker on the 2nd season of VH1's Real Chance of Love … “Junk”.

For starters, please let our audience know what your real name is.

My friends and family know and call me by my middle name which is Candy.

How did you get the nickname Junk?

Chance is the one who gave me the nickname. All of the other woman on the show got to tell Real and Chance what their real names are, but I didn’t. Once Chance saw me, he automatically gave me the nickname “Junk”.

When people see you out, do they call you Junk? And how do you feel about the nickname?

When people see me out, they do call me “Junk”. At first, the nickname bothered me ... I absolutely hated it ... but now I’m okay with it.

I see that you currently reside in Atlanta, where are you originally from?

I am originally from Salisbury, NC.

What made you decide to move to ATL?

I moved to Atlanta because of a situation that I was go-ing through. Moving to Atlanta was a fresh start for me. It is also a city that is not too far from preventing me from visiting my mom who is still in North Carolina.

I see that you have your degree in Mass Commu-nications from Winston Salem State University and worked as a radio personality for 102 JAMZ based out of Greensboro North Carolina. Can you please elaborate on these a bit?

I started as an intern for the radio station. I then started helping one of the stations DJs, Kyle Santillian, with his Tuesday night show, “Ladies Night”. One of the other DJs, Waleed Coyote (Street Hitz), was impressed with me after I rapped for him one night and I became a regular personality for the program “The 10 o’clock Banger”.

When did you first start taking modeling seriously?

About two years ago. My modeling career got off to a slow start because in North Carolina there aren’t too many outlets for models that are serious about their modeling careers. My first big break was my appear-ance in a Lil Scrappy video in 06.

I see that you have done a lot of major print maga-zines and music videos. What are some of the maga-zines and videos that you’ve done?

I’ve been featured in OmiGawd magazine based out of ATL, 2 issues of Straight Stuntin Magazine, and Sweets. I have an upcoming spread in Assets magazine. I’ve done a lot of music videos. Some of those videos include: “A lot of That”- Jeezy, “Dey Know”- Shawty Lo, “5000 Ones”- DJ Drama, “Waddle”- Gorilla Zoe, and “Who the F is That”- the late Dolla R.I.P.

Do you model full time?

As of right now, I do not model full time. I have actu-ally stopped modeling. I don’t model; I just take really nice photos. I still take pictures, but as of right now it’s more for my personal portfolio.

Now a days, almost every other female claims that they are a “model". How do you feel about that? In your opinion, what classifies someone as a “model”?

Everybody says they’re a model. Models get paid to do what they do whether its full time or part time. You also have to have a resume of what you have done, whether it was paid or unpaid. At least have something to show for it. If not, you’re just a good picture-taker.

With so many women getting "butt shots" and butt implants, how do you handle rumors that yours isn’t natural?

People that say my butt is fake need to pay attention to my "thigh to butt" ratio. That is one of the main ways to tell whether someone’s (butt) is natural or not. My "thigh to butt" ratio is naturally proportionate. My friends and family know that mine is natural and that’s all that matters.

Are you single?

Maybe and maybe not

What do you look for in a man?

Personality. If a man is dead behind the eyes, I can’t talk to him. He must have nice shoes. I’m so big on shoes! Good hygiene. He can’t be dead broke. He doesn’t have to be the richest person in world. He can’t be disrespect-ful towards me. He MUST know how to treat women.

Do you see marriage and/or children in your future?

I don’t see marriage in my future as of right now be-cause it’s so hard to find a good man now days. I’m up in the air about having children.

Describe a typical day for “Junk”

A typical day for me isn’t what people probably expect it to be. I have a very "regular" day. Most days I just hang out at home and use MySpace, Face Book or Twit-ter. I cook, go workout with my trainer and I faithfully watch Cheaters everyday! That’s my favorite show!

Which one is your love interest on the show, Real or Chance?

Chance. He reminds me of someone that I used to date. He has a “bad” attitude and I like “bad” attitudes.

How did you adjust to being on reality TV and hav-ing cameras and a camera crew follow your every move?

At first, it was hard to adjust to the cameras follow-ing me everywhere. It used to upset me that cameras were always in face. Sometimes I went and hid in the closet! When I got back home, I had nightmares about cameras!

Have you done any other reality TV shows, movies, etc?

RCOL2 is the first reality show that I’ve done. I’ve been on the Maury Show in the past

Since participating in the show, have you thought about doing any acting?

I’ve always wanted to act used to act. I used to act in high school. Unfortunately, being on reality shows gets you “type cast” but I do plan on venturing into acting.

Has being on RCOL2 given you more exposure? What ventures and offers have you received since the show has aired?

Yes. Magazines want to work with me that didn’t notice me before the show.

How did you get onto the show?

A friend of mine got the email about the casting. She wanted me to go with her and I agreed to go with go with her. The casting staff asked me if I wanted to audi-tion and at first I didn’t want to do it. After they kept pressuring me to do it, I agreed. Luckily I got picked. My friend didn’t.

I see that you were friends with some of the other girls from the show, which ones are you still friends with?

I’m still friends with “Classy”. I’m very close to

her. I’m cool with “Hot Wings”, “PS”, “Baker” and “Mamacita”.

Do you now have any ongoing beefs with any of the other contestants?

Blonde Baller is the only person I can’t stand right now.

How can one get info on booking you for future ven-tures?

Booking info is micsnmodelsbooking@gmail.com

Who would you like to thank and why? Who are some of the people that have played a major part in helping you with your career goals?

I would like to thank my family at 102 Jamz! They are the reason why I started doing what I do. They put me under their wings and showed me the ropes. I would also like to thank my family for their support.

Before we go, let our readers where they can see more of you?

My MySpace URL is http://www.myspace.com/da_main_attraction and my Twitter URL is http://www.twitter.com/vh1sjunk.

imah Nicole is a diamond in the rough. Point, Blank, Period. This beauty is not only drop dead gorgeous, but she has nothing but positive attributes that suck

you in and almost make you forget that this woman will stop traffic before even setting foot on the curb. Kimah Nicole is on the fast track to super model stardom, but she has worked so hard at achieving her goals outside of modeling that, either way, she is a

force to be reckoned with. Her pictures ooze absolute physical perfection, but even more importantly, once speaking with her, her intelligence and her complete determination to be nothing less than successful will have you daydreaming of bringing her home to meet the parents. The Shoot Magazine is honored to be able to get a moment with Kimah Nicole, and even better, we are proud to be able to share this moment with all of you.

A Sweet Dream Come Trueby Diana Lorenzo

So Kimah, please tell us where are you from?

I am from San Antonio, TX.

Where do you live now?

I currently reside in Houston, TX but I'm alwaystraveling.

How long have you been modeling?

I have been modeling on and off for almost 2 years now.

Is modeling your only job right now?

No, I actually do marketing for a fortune 500 company. In addition, I am the President of Public Relations for Mics and Models, a reality star/model management company, and I am currently in the process of starting my own PR and Sports Entertainment firm.

What music videos have you been featured in so far?

Paul Wall feat. Webbie – “Bizzy Body”Slim Thug feat. Ray J – “Keep It Playa”Scarface – “High Powered”Scarface feat. Trey Songz – “Girl You Know”

What magazines and/or calendars have you beenfeatured in?

Most recently I was featured in The Source's collector's edition with Michael Jackson on the cover.

What was your favorite music video that you were a part of and why?

“Bizzy Body” –Paul Wall was probably my favorite video to date. It was fun to shoot and it was the first video my mom saw! She thought it was awesome!

Are there any particular magazines or artists that you haven’t worked with yet that you would like to?

As far as videos are concerned, I would love to be fea-tured in a Wayne video because I have been a huge fan of his for some time now. As far as magazines, of course I would like to be featured in all the big name national publications. There are some things that I have

done that have not hit the presses just yet so stay tuned!

How do you feel about people that look at models in a negative way when they do music videos or pro-vocative shoots?

I feel like everyone has a right to their own opinion. However, all models should not be stereotyped. Every-one is an individual and responsible for their own ac-tions. It is about maintaining your own integrity and never compromising your morals as a woman. As long as the video/photo is done tastefully, I don't see what the problem is.

What would you say is your biggest accomplishment so far?

I would definitely have to say graduating college and securing a good job to be able to provide for myself and my family.

What advice would you like to give women that want to pursue a career in modeling?

Build up an amazing portfolio and network your butt off.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

In five years ... that seems so far from now. Well, I hope to have accomplished all of my modeling goals, completed the remaining coursework on my M.B.A., and have a very prominent Public Relations and Sports Marketing firm.

Are you single?

Let's just say I'm off the market

Describe the “perfect date”.

The perfect date for me starts with a romantic candle lit dinner, followed by a play or concert, followed by drinks at a nice intimate jazz club or lounge.

How do you feel about our country’s economy right now?

I can see a change. I am very hopeful, and I have full confidence in Obama that he will rectify the situation.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

With the help of DVR, I have become a TV junkie. I am addicted to The First 48, CSI, Law and Order, and 48 Hours.

What kind of upbringing did you have?

I am from a very close knit family. I still talk to my mom and grandmother every day. I grew up in the hood but fortunately I made it out. I had the opportunity to see a lot of my peers succumb to various misfortunes and I learned from their mistakes. I am very grateful for my family for instilling in me my core values. It helped mold me into the person I am today.

What would you say are your best physical qualities and characteristics?

I think my curves are my best physical qualities. I think my best characteristics are my down to earth nature and my sense of humor.

You have an amazing body! Do you work out?

Yes but not nearly as much as I should.

Which models/women inspire you and why?

In the model category, Tyra and Kimora definitely in-spire me. They have used their modeling platform to transition into other facets of the industry. They are driven women who have accomplished their goals and made the world see them as more than a pretty face. Overall, Oprah is someone who inspires me on totally different level. Her entertainment and humanitarian ac-complishments are tremendous.

Who has played an important role throughout your life and career?

My mother and my grandmother have been my rock throughout my life. They continue to support me in all my endeavors.

What can we expect to see from Kimah Nicole?

I am working on my calendar and my website which will be released before the end of the year.

Describe yourself in one word:

Captivating

CHI-CITYTHE NEW FACE OF HIP HOP

Chi City, the young independent artist from the South side of Chicago, is ready to be a new leader of rap; bringing originality back to the rap game. With a fresh, raw flow, and Mid-west flavor, Chi City is bound to be a household name in the near future. He is on a path to bring real, heartfelt Hip Hop music back into the in-dustry; getting back to the essence of rapping. Chi City

has the witty storytelling techniques of the late, great Biggie Smalls, sick lyrical word play of Lil Wayne, and an uncanny ability to switch up his flow in ways that sound like none other. Track to track, verse to verse, he has the skills and talent to compete with anyone in the game right now. A true student of the game, Chi City lives in the studio. He recorded more than 100 songs for

by Wesley W. Jenkins

his latest mix tape “A long way from home” which hit the streets in late August 2009. The twenty-one track mix tape includes the blazing singles “Get It Girl” and “Say Yeah” which are sure to be instant club bangers. Always working on brand new mate-rial, Chi City has put out more than five mix tapes which have flooded the streets including “Street Talk” vol. 1 & 2, “Almost Signed,” and the classic mix tape “Rap vs. Hip Hop”, just to name a few.

In a time where the rap game is wa-tered downed with gimmick rappers and bland, predictable lyrics and un-original concepts, Chi City is a new fresh face of Hip Hop whose rhymes will leave you thirsty for more af-ter the first listen. Having collabo-rated with DJs such as DJ Farris, Trend Settaz DJs, DJ Kid Scratch, DJ Smoove, DJ Shawn Mack, a DJ for Chicago’s own Twista as well numerous local DJs, Chi City has built a massive following in Chicago and all over the Mid-west reaching all the way to St. Louis. With promi-nent regional success, Chi City has also gained fans in New York, New Jersey, Florida, Texas, California, and Maryland, and even abroad. A well-respected player in the underground ranks, he has also linked up with some of the hottest artists on the in-dependent circuit, teaming up with Cory Gunz, the son of New York rapper, Peter Gunz, and Grand Finale, an independent artist based out of New Jersey, to produce blazing hot tracks.

Growing up in Chicago’s infamous gang culture, Chi City has the street credibility to appeal to anyone in any hood in any city and the lyrical substance to appeal to the hardest of “Hip Hop Heads”. The ultra talented en-tertainer poses the capability to appeal to some of the pop culture, as well, being compared to Jay-Z by some of his overseas fans. Staying true to his roots, he is a bona fide hustler in the game using the Internet as well as other avenues to increase his status. Chi City has

over 700k combined plays and 300k combined hits on Myspace, over 20k downloads of the street classic mix tape entitled “Rap vs. Hip Hop”, and is reaching over 10k listens of his mix tapes on Datpiff.com. Staying on his grind and working tirelessly to progress and become a hot-item in the underground, the young lyrical genius is content with his accomplishments as an independent artist yet is always hungry for more.

Initial inspiration came when he saw a performance by Lil Bow Wow as a young child. At twenty-two years of age, Chi City has nearly six years in the game. In the early stages of his career, he made a name for himself by ghost writing for some of Chicago’s hottest local tal-ents from Killer Ward, Goon Squad to artists affiliated with Kanye West’s label G.O.O.D. MUSIC. At a young

age, Chi City sparked the interest of Columbia Records when he submitted his material on a whim via Internet but decided not to pursue the deal do to disputes with his mother. Chi City also had a deal in the works with publishing companies connected to Atlantic records; however, due to creative conflicts, he decided not to go forward with the opportunity. After making his imprint as an independent artist ,Chi City decided to build his

own music empire by creating a record label called On My Own Records (O.M.O.) for which he is the CEO.

In a weakened state of Hip Hop, Chi City feels like he’s on top of his game and can outshine the majority of the hottest artists in the mainstream. Armed with immense lyrical ammo and a legitimate authentic style that harks on the glory days of Hip Hop, he is more than ready

to take on the masses. When asked “What im-pression do you plan on leaving on the game?”, Chi City responded by saying, “I want to bring hope to the young aspir-ing artist. I want to be the inspiration and the one who folks look up to when they want to hear good music.” The song, “ I gotta make it” - track #20 on the “A long way from home” mix tape, illustrates how he per-severed through unfor-tunate events in his past and uses the knowledge he gained as a child to stay motivated and con-tinue perfecting his craft. Chi City is always driven to make music that you can vibe to. He’s ever present in the lab con-tinuing to work steadfast on creating a new formu-la for success. He has all but mastered the under-ground level and is pre-pared to break through to the masses and reach commercial success without “selling out”. Without any doubt, Chi City will be on your lo-cal radio stations and all over your tube by the end of this year.

Her name is DOLL and this is her HOUSE A look inside the life of VH1 reality star,

Jacqueline DaFonsecaBy Megan Bolton

With VH1’s Real and Chance publicly seeking love for a second round, they have brought on board an en-tirely new cast of girls who bring the sexual insanity to prime-time television, but all aren’t as wild and out of control as some of the women make it appear. Some of the young ladies bring standards, culture, and sex ap-peal to the house while still remaining a Doll!

Jacqueline DaFonseca, the beautiful Cape Verdean or African and Portuguese mix nicknamed Doll, became a contestant on season 2 of VH1’s Real Chance of Love to win one of the two sibling bachelors’ hearts only a week after graduating from Fitchburg State as a Crimi-nal Justice major. Not only educated, she also models allowing her to have experience in the spotlight and in front of cameras which ultimately encouraged a friend to push her into trying out for the show. From what Doll admits, she was immediately liked by the producers due to her beautiful and exotic appearance. After two weeks and two auditions, she had made it to L.A. em-barking on her future as a newly found reality star and hopefully finding love in the process.

Seeing herself on television every Monday night, she says “wows” her. “I’m just so happy that it is really me on TV ... everyone that knows me is like, ‘That’s exactly how you are.’” Growing up with four brothers, Doll definitely knows how to hold her own. She says that although she felt the need to be closed off at first because of the new and crazy environment, she never lost control of herself throughout all of the drama. “It took me at least a week to get used to the whole situa-tion. I was thinking, I’m in this house; these girls are all nuts … I’m going to have to do something crazy to be noticed and I didn’t really want to do that, but luckily I didn’t have to do anything crazy. The girls actually eliminate themselves because they were. The girls that are really themselves always last the longest,” suggests Doll. Although VH1 stepped it up a notch as far as this

season’s cast in the classiness and appearance depart-ment, they made sure to not neglect the action that the ladies bring to the show … even Real and Chance seem to have made better decisions in assisting the producers in picking women who appear to be more compatible with them.

Doll confesses that once she entered the house, Chance was feeling her intensely right off the bat, and although Real was too, he wasn’t as assertive as his brother. She says many people don’t even notice that Chance was actually the one who nicknamed her or the aggressive ways he showed his interest in the multicultural beauty. “There were times he would have one-on-one conver-sations with me and would excuse the other girls say-ing, ‘Let me talk to Doll a little more,’ but they don’t show everything on camera.” She says that 80% to 85% of footage goes unaired and will never grace the eyes of the public; and that people will just have to read be-tween the lines until the finale when the girls can in-form the public of all the secrets that the Real Chance of Love house holds. “Chance is just too crazy for me,” Doll says laughing. “Although they cut it out, I told Real when they were naming me, ‘I’m here for you.’ Yea, Chance was showing me way more attention but Real is more reserved like I am and came at me in a more respectful way which made for better chemistry.”

Doll entered the house playing the game in a more clev-er and strategic way. She admits to secretly and quietly weeding the girls out one by one, especially after she began to become more and more attached to Real and claiming him as her own. She began to feel uncomfort-able with the other girls in the house getting intimate with him and concocted ways to expose them as women who weren’t meant to be with him while still remain-ing ladylike and proper. She does feel that the broth-ers most likely found love this season ... especially one lucky brother in particular.

Since the airing of the show, Doll has had many oppor-tunities presented to her with the season just beginning its run. Interest has been expressed in her for magazine features, poster deals, commercials, and more. While her look is popular now, she plans to pursue her model-ing career and pick back up on her education after she’s gained full notoriety for her unique sex appeal. She plans

to take full advantage of the modeling world and keep her options diverse from high fashion to catalog, even Playboy. She’s a vibrant young celeb on the rise, so the Girls Next Door better watch out! And although strong intuitions say that Doll makes it pretty far on the show, the truth will be told in the end. Does she ultimately capture the heart of Real who she absolutely adores, or

is she sent home to tend to her broken heart? If it’s the latter, never fear! Doll will bounce back quick as she still wouldn’t mind getting to know other celebs, such as the new album releasing rap artist, Fabolous a.k.a Loso. “I mean obviously I love Real because he’s just a sweet, sweet guy but for some reason I am also in love with Fabulous,” she says laughing. “His swag is just really sexy!” So it seems as if Loso has his own private invitation into the “Doll House”.

Keep your eyes peeled for Jacqueline DaFonseca AKA Doll because she is definitely planning to cap-ture the attention of the masses in the very near fu-ture. Not only did her exotic looks, winning personality, and intelligent strategy play a major part of her game in the reality world, she also plans to use these same tactics in the real world as well. If you want to keep up with Doll and all her new and exciting ventures, fol-low her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/VH1Doll, her Myspace at www.myspace.com/Dolliedollworld, and also videos she’s posted on YouTube at www.youtube.com/VH1Doll.

So…is it safe to say that every woman out there making money isn’t getting it by “shakin’ that thing for a lil’ piece of change”?! Well Ms. Heather, buyer and marketing assistant of the woman’s department for Shiekh Shoes, has proven that this world isn’t all about T&A (Tits & Ass), but instead B&B (brains & busi-ness).

As a buyer for a small company, Heather attends trade shows such as the Magic and WSA show in Ve-gas, the city in which the company headquarters now lies, but hopes to venture off to experience other trade shows in other cities. Until then, she and the other staff members of the company select the shoes that they admire most from the shows and they even go to the creative extents of designing their own shoes too! Cur-rently in the works are shoes being designed and cre-ated in collaboration with 8 months pregnant Monica “Danger” Leon from “For the Love of Ray J,” so we can be expecting to see some hot footwork in the name of Danger being released really soon!

Shoes seem to be a part of Heather’s heart and sole! With Shiekh Shoes’ headquarters originally being lo-cated in the Bay area of California, she lucked up, at the age of 18, with a job as their receptionist when they started to move towards the L.A area after working at store level for two years prior. She definitely proved her potential at this point in her career when she would wear Shiekh’s shoes while she danced on Soul Train! After every show she would come back to the office making suggestions for the shoes and how they could be improved upon which really exhibited her passion for the company and its products to the owner of the company, but with Heather still being new to this aspect of the business, she still had to work her way up. She began as Mr. Shiekh’s assistant to learn the ins and outs of marketing and from that eventually progressed and gained an additional title as his assistant buyer.

Although the job proves to be fun for her … and why wouldn’t it be because who doesn’t love shopping right ... but Heather admits that starting off, it wasn’t as

Hey HEATHERette!By Megan Bolton

easy of some may think. She had to grow accustomed to not just choosing items that she personally wanted for herself but instead cater to all the many different tastes that various women have in clothing. “Being here has been a total learning experience and a blessing be-cause I have learned so much about not just myself but about Black individuals, Hispanic individuals, White individuals and just trying to pick out a shoe that every-body likes…which is crazy,” explains Heather of her transition.

Her time as a Soul Train dancer also proved to be a very insightful and entertaining period in her life, not neglecting to mention that this job came along with some family history! Her mother was also a dancer on Soul Train back in the day and her father was their stage coordinator at the time, which led to the beginning of their love affair after meeting on the show. Her father was the stage coordinator for about 20 plus years and had even become the best of friends with Don Corne-lius, and her mother danced for the show up until she got

pregnant with Heather then lying those platform pumps down to rest. So after learning about the opportunity as a dancer from a friend, Heather quickly jumped into the Soul Train line to live up to her parent’s legacy.

“It was cool because a lot of the guys that my dad worked with back in the day were still there, and I re-member when this guy walked up to me and he was like your Chuck’s daughter and your mom is Natasha! So it was really cool,” says Heather explaining, how many of the old equipment workers who were still there her nicknamed her “Lil’ Chucky” after her father whose name is Chuck. She laughs saying, “That wasn’t really the cutest nickname I could’ve had but I had to program it in my head like ‘it’s because of my dad…it’s because of my dad.’” So Heather definitely kept the family pride going strong with her experience as a sexy dancer for the train of soul while still adding her kooky, crazy per-sonality.

She makes sure to let people know that…she doesn’t

care! She does what she wants and what she feels, and she’ll admit it…she’s crazy! And why not she claims, because everyone already knows how wild her per-sonality is from walking into her bright green office at Shiekh Shoes to listening to her segment first thing on Monica “Danger” Leon’s radio show, “One Night Stand,” on Thursdays, which is also the only produc-tion that she currently sponsors with Sheikh. Although Shiekh Shoes has over 100 locations they are still look-ing for ways to get their name out there, and so Heather makes it an priority to reach out to the young ladies from the popular reality shows such as “For the Love of Ray J” and “Real Chance of Love” to help embellish their career as well as the company’s.

Shiekh Shoes is definitely making a name for them-selves rapidly with Heather’s unique and trendy mar-keting ideas. She’s made it possible for the company to be featured in top magazines such as Seventeen, Cosmo Girl and Teen Vogue just to name a few, and she re-ally feels that this is just the beginning of their empire. “Shiekh is the one place that you can go and you just know that you’ll find something, and it’s at a good price so you don’t feel like you have to break out $100 on a nice pair of shoes,” explains Heather. She really em-phasizes on how you’re really paying for something that worth your money while still being stylish at an af-fordable price. So with all this working we know you’re wondering, besides painting her office green or getting a little wild on One Night Stand… what does Heather do once she gets time to just relax.

“I like to go out to dinner…I love food! I like to eat and try different restaurants, I like going to the malls and just looking and seeing what’s crackin’ out there, and the pool and the beach are my things also because I can soak up the sun,” says Heather telling us about her hobbies once she finally gets a free day. “I’m really laid back…I also like going to the movies and I love nail salons! I’ll try to go to every nail salon out there if I could!”

Heather obviously stays really busy and doesn’t leave that out when telling young women who are looking to be in her position one day. She wants young women to intern, hustle, and just really network because she feels that this world is truly at our fingertips and you just need to work hard and prove yourself. Go hard and hustle! She mentions how it’s hard for her to even stom-ach people who constantly have excuses because noth-ing can ever hold you back from what you truly want.

Even though she continues to hustle and grind as she assists in working on one of their upcoming projects entitled Shiekh Music, which is an event something like American Idol with Reebok as one of their spon-sors, and they are planning to advertise it on all net-works so that kids can come out and showcase their vocal talents. There will also be radio personalities in attendance from major stations and even celebrity guest judges. The event is looking to grace some of the major cities ranging from L.A. to Houston to Vegas, and the winner will ultimately receive some type of recording contract or deal. It’s definitely a hit project in the mak-ing and to receive more information about it as it pro-cesses Heather advices all who are interested to visit http://www.shiekhteam.com/, which is Shiekh’s newly launched networking site.

Shiekh has become a family to Heather and she at-tributes a lot of her successes to the company that took her under their wing and allowed her to experience op-portunities of a lifetime. “I can’t pick one thing that’s just great about working here because there’s so many little things that just build up into one, and working for Shiekh alone is great. He’s the most beautiful person I’ve ever encountered, and he’s just so sweet and it’s almost like you just want to throw up because you’re like, ‘Where did you come from?’” He’s awesome…the best boss you could ever have,” concludes Heather on her fabulous job! J “As far me as a person…there are no hidden facts, no artificial flavors, I’m 100% real!”

The Collins Twins: Brazilian BarbiesBy Megan Bolton

We’ve always known that Miami was a melting pot for different cultures and ethnicities, but the modeling in-dustry was blessed when the Miami shores produced the Brazilian Barbie Dolls, The Collins Twins.

With their career just beginning a couple of years ago, they have truly established themselves and made a mark in an industry in which it is so hard to gain recog-nition and respect. Now living in Atlanta, GA, the ladies constantly have opportunities presented to them left and right. They definitely have made a reputation for themselves and continue to gain notoriety by maintaining appearances in major music productions to magazines and even winning awards for their sex appeal, but surprisingly modeling wasn’t what the beautiful sisters had planned for their future at all.

Tracee, being the youngest by minutes but most definitely seeming to be the most domi-nate out of the two, explains how modeling never really was the first thought that came to mind envisioned their future. They began modeling dur-ing their junior year at Florida A&M. Stacee became inter-ested in the modeling industry; and being an outsider looking in, she wanted to be a part of the glamour world more than just being a reader of magazines. After being spotted by a local photographer, Issac Williams, she began to book shoots with him to be in his upcoming calendar entitled “Fantasy World” which he was about to release that year. After seeing the potential in the twins together, he encouraged Tracee to also jump on board so that they could begin modeling as a duo. After their first shoot together with Williams, their career soared off to new heights, not with just one

Brazilian bombshell, but now with two!

Their break out career move was when they received the “Beauty of the Week” title from JET Magazine in the November 2007. That accomplishment, along with their consistent networking skills, pushed their name throughout the industry so quickly and allowed them to gain so much recognition that the following year in 2008 they were blessed to have booked eleven music

videos. Their success continued into 2009 with their nomination and ac-ceptance of a Southern Entertainment Award as Impact Models of the Year and the featured roles in three upcoming music videos of popular recording artists ranging from Atlanta’s Rocko to Carmelo Anthony’s new artist, Diego Cash. We know that they can wreck the industry together, but how about alone, you ask?

The twins typically work together but on oc-casion are booked sepa-rately. Stacee was recent-ly chosen to shoot for the cover of the book, Diary of a Sex Addict, by Sha-lona L. Amos, and if you

ask them how the author went about choosing which twin to use, they wouldn’t be able to tell you. They have also been featured in music videos separately such as India Arie and new recording artists, Rock City, but Tracee doesn’t neglect to mention that these brief sepa-ration periods are just for work. “We’re never apart and we won’t be apart until one of us gets married,” Tracee says laughing. You would think that all this sisterly love would get old eventually and that the claws would come

out at times but the sisters jokingly disagreed, “During photo shoots photographers do sometimes boost up the competition. We’ll look at the pictures and if one has done better than the other we’ll say, “B*tch, I served you,” says Tracee giggling. “But we never seriously get mad at each other except for maybe enter-tainment! People seem to find Sta-cee and I entertaining when we get to arguing…so we may do it for en-tertainment; and we’ll get into some occasional cat fights but nothing too crazy.”

The friendly competition does not seem to only brew between the sisters but they also have to ac-knowledge it within the industry, es-pecially when there are about eight other sets of popular twin models within the business, but does that hold the Collins’ back? No! In fact, they are planning to build from it. “What we really would like to do is an all twin issue for some magazine company with all of the other popu-lar sexy twin models out there. No one has ever done it and we think that once they do it will definitely be hot,” said the twins agreeing on how successful the possible project could be.

As far as the stereotypes that come with the type of urban model-ing that they do, they strongly em-phasize on how their sex appeal is strictly used for modeling and busi-ness purposes only, they have not and do not plan on doing anything further than simply modeling to gain anything from anyone. Professionalism is definitely something that needs to be maintained in a business such as entertainment, especially dealing with mod-eling and displaying your body in a sexual way. The Collins’ refer to themselves as video actresses instead of video vixens because they believe that most models that are about business don’t usually claim that title, but

as far as the stereotypes, the twins don’t stress about how people perceive them because that is their personal opinion. It can be hard to work in an industry in which there are some women that act out of character and throw themselves at the celebrities, but that is not every model. The twins constantly make an effort to prove that some women can model, show off their beautiful bodies and still remain ladies while they do so because what most people would not believe is that the twins are actually single!

In a world of A-list celebrities ranging from re-cording artists, athletes, movie stars and producers, the twins have shockingly managed to stay single which is what most guys love to hear. The twins touched on how rumors have been circulating about them dating Souljah Boy and other major artists, although Stacee would love to dibble with Diddy and Tracee would love to dabble with Lil Boosie, all the other stories out there are simply rumors. With the rumors coming and going, the twins are open to anything that may happen as far as

relationships in the future that can remain solid throughout life. What if they like the same guy? You would think that they would be in-terested in the same types of guys because they are twins, but on the contrary they actually are not too much attracted to the same guys. Tracee admits that it does happen on occasion that they are both at-tracted to someone but they have a system to figure out who gets the guy so that there are not any cat fights. “If the guy is looking, we will both wave and Stacee may say, “You can have him” or I’ll say, “Stacee you can have him.” So we both decide who ultimately wants him, but if he comes up and tries to choose and he chooses wrong, he cannot have either one of us,” explains Tracee. “Even if the guy chooses correctly, the sister that ultimately wanted him will get him but even after we still cannot help but wonder why he picked me over my sister? And they’re usu-ally just like, ‘I don’t know,’” she concludes laughing.

Pitches aren’t only being made from guys to the twins but they are also making some pitches of their own in hopes of receiving their own reality show! They are cur-rently in the works now of meet-ing with different networks and coming up with ideas for their own show, along with also pitch-ing ideas to different companies to

hopefully land an ad campaign for clothing companies like Baby Phat or Sean Jean, there is definitely more to come which will be twice as nice with twice the spice!

Check out their past projects and keep up with them and their future ones by following them on www.Twit-ter.com/THECOLLINSTWINS and www.Myspace.com/COLLINSTWINS!!!

“DANGERously in Love”By Megan Bolton

Are you dangerously in love? Well, all of America is, when we’re speaking of 22 year-old Monica Leon a.k.a Danger from VH1’s hit reality show, “For the Love of Ray J.” She captured the attention of millions of view-ers as she competed with other gorgeous contestants to win the heart of the infamous Ray J, a talented record producer, singer, actor and sibling to R&B vocalist, Brandy. Out of all of the sexy young ladies who graced the show with their presence, Danger brought about a vibe which made her unforgettable. The tiger prowling across her face was our first indication that this mod-

elesque beauty was one to look out for. Come along as we journey into the Danger-ous world of Monica Leon. The alter ego of Leon, Danger, has had so much going on in her life since the airing of the show, includ-ing her indulgence into the art world, numerous shoots for multiple magazines, the premiere of a new radio show, and currently being pregnant! Yes, she is preg-nant after all…and the baby is due this month, October 2009! The first pregnancy shocker broke into the me-dia in fall of 2008, but she quickly corrected the rumor on Ray J’s reunion show by admitting that there had been a false pregnancy confirmation. Even before she cleared up the confusion, a lot of viewers didn’t doubt the pregnancy because everyone clearly witnessed her and Ray J’s steamy love affair and their “off the charts” chemistry.

Danger expresses how she initially went onto the show because she was extremely attracted to him, and once entering the house they just automatically clicked with her being able to convey to him stories of her rough childhood which most could say was defi-nitely full of “danger.” He understood and sympathized with everything that she had been through and expe-rienced as a young adult allowing their connection to become that much more intense, although it was being broadcast on a national television show.

The unique love that Ray J and Danger shared began to sizzle out once he began to ask other girls in the house his infamous question, “Sexy Can I,” and becoming more intimate with them, but Danger and his undeniable chemistry lead many to believe that the false pregnancy at the time could have been by no one other than Ray J. That is, until another potential candi-date surfaced…Gabrielle Cannon, the younger brother of Nick Cannon.

She met and fell in love with Cannon shortly af-ter her dismissal from the show, and although now they also are not together, she wishes him the best just as she does for Ray J with his second season airing soon…but these break ups still doesn’t mean our girl isn’t preg-

nant. You can catch TwitPics of the mother to be sporting an adorable green bathing suit and lovely “baby bump”. It has defi-nitely been confirmed that she’s expecting. “I’m due in Mid-October and I’m having a girl,” says Danger as she ecstatically ex-presses her excitement about the pregnancy and the upcoming birth of her baby girl, but even with the time consuming job of motherhood approaching, it hasn’t seemed to slow down this fierce entrepreneur at all.

Since the show, Danger has been busy making sure that her mark remains prominent in the industry. She’s current-ly working on a “tell-all” book. She’ll be hosting an art tour soon in which her very own paintings will be shown and sold, the possibility of her own show on television is being discussed, and the recent debut of her new Internet radio broadcasting, One Night Stand, has begun. The radio show, which airs every Thursday and can be found on www.blogtalkradio.com/1-night-stand-show , is currently her newest ven-ture and has shown the great potential that Danger has within the business aspect of the media world. “Ray J and Chardonnay were my first guests on the radio show and it has been really great, going strong for a few months now and actually being rated #1 in our segment on Blog Talk Radio,” says Danger, confidently explaining the success her show has received. The show details various topics including, of course, one night stands in which she and viewers share their intimate stories, celebrity gos-sip, and special celebrity guests, and also allows listeners and viewers to participate in contests and win prizes.

She also has another show in production, in which she is hosting a contest in search of a male co-host, who she would like to be charismatic, likable, and can handle the dirt that will most likely be dished out to them on the show. The search is still currently in prog-ress and any guys interested can email their information to radioonenight@aol.com and auditions will be taking place on The Wifeys, which is Danger and Stilts’, also from the “For the Love of Ray J” show, new UStream

show. So, fellas, if you’re fine and know how to shine, take out the time and start applying.

Other than that to keep an eye on Danger and any of her unpredictable moves, follow her on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/MonicaDanger, her Myspace at www.myspace.com/femmefataleent, and also her brand new website which should be launched within a couple weeks. Never fear, you will definitely see more of Dan-ger in this lifetime ... as stated in the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson - “AS SOON AS THERE IS LIFE, THERE IS DANGER.”

The State of Hip HopWesley Jenkins

Hello my fellow hip hop heads, rap enthusiast, or whatever you want to call yourselves. Where is the state of hip hop right now? Who’s really hot? Who’s re-ally not? Hopefully my insight will help answer these questions. Besides the usual suspects like T.I., Jay Z, and Lil Wayne who are all at the forefront of being the next “superstar” rapper, is there anyone out there ready to carry the torch? Is there anyone out there wor-thy of being called rap’s next superstar? Is it Drake, Lil Wayne’s “mini me?” I’m sure you all heard of the new white rapper Asher Roth. I know I am not the only one who thinks the guy sounds just like Eminem. I’m not knocking these respected artists but in my opinion, they don’t sound original. The rap game has a lot of followers and very few leaders. R& B big shot T-Pain cranks out hit after hit with the use of auto-tune, so what does your favorite rapper do? He puts out a whole mix tape using auto-tune. That’s not original. Eons ago artists put out songs you knew they wanted to hear and there was no doubt that they listened to their own tracks but does Plies re-ally relax on a Sunday by kicking back and putting on “Becky” or does Souljah Boy find his creative juices by bumping “She gotta donk.” In my opinion, I can hon-estly say that the majority of the mainstream rappers are completely mediocre! Why, you ask? Where do I start? The weak lyrics, unoriginal concepts, and sto-len hooks, you name it. A lot of the songs I’m hearing sound exactly the same. Everyone is talking about the same things. Not only are they saying the same thing they are saying them in the same way. In more than half of the songs I hear on radio or videos I see on TV, the artist never fails to say a line about their “swag,” brightly colored diamonds, and how their shoes match their belt. Some artists go to the length of taking a line

from a song and making their own song out of that line without giving any credit to the artist who used it first.

A positive aspect of this new era of rap I notice is that the production of the tracks has gone up tremendously. Polo the Don, Shawty Red, and Just Blaze are a few producers who I think stepped the game up when it comes to making beats. I also have to mention Kanye West in those regards. I believe the new formula to cre-ating a hit single is as follows, purchase an out of this

world track from someone like Cool & Dre, come up with this catchy hook that is easy to remember, and recite three verses that consist of 16 bars of words that rhyme and people will love it. They’ll buy the ring tone, download it, and put the song on their Myspace page. You don’t realize that you’re being hypnotized by the beat. You hear the beat, remem-ber the hook but forget to

listen to the lyrics.

What happened to the lyricists like Common and Black Thought of the Roots? Why is it that no one is follow-ing in their shoes? It’s not all bad. You still have Andre 3000 who was voted top MC by a panel put together by MTV. Will there ever be anymore super groups like Wu-Tang and Outkast? Will there be anyone who im-pacts the game like the great Tupac and Biggie?

It’s evident that the game is at a weakened state right now. Seasoned veterans who you think should be on an island somewhere are coming back and in my assump-tion coming back with a vengeance. Take Jay Z’s single from his new album “The Blueprint 3,” DOA (Death of Auto-tune). It’s clear he’s against the auto-tune move-ment. Q-Tip, N.O.R.E., and Capone have albums drop-

ping. What milk carton did they find these guys on?

So who’s next? You may have to dig deep into the wells of the underground find an artist who strays away from the status quo. Lyrical artist such as Chi City out of Chicago and Cory Gunz are climbing their way into the mainstream. Perhaps the most slept on MC out of the south Killer Mike’s newly released album Under-ground Atlanta debuted as the number 10 rap album on Billboard.com. Let us not forget about Kid Cudi, the eclectic Ohio born rapper. He introduced us to a new al-ternative, psych-genre of hip-hop with his automatic hit single “Day & Night.” The track is amazing, his flow is unlike the vast majority of hip hop, and the originality factor is off the charts. We’ll see if he can follow his initial success with the September release of his debut album Man on the Moon: The end of day.

It will get better but only time will tell. Stay tuned, keep a sharp ear, and be careful not to fall into the “trap” or gimmick that these rappers present. It’s your right as a fan to analyze and question the motives behind the work being produced. It’s your duty to point out dregs of the rap game and eliminate the slackers.